Who needs the playground, when there is sand?

we finally got Ava her own sand pail and toys so she won't go stealing the other children's toys.....well that was the idea anyhow, we will see how it works out....

so she is now able to dig and find things that she'd like to put in her mouth

yummy......even though she always ends up spitting them out, you would think she would learn, but she's such a persistent little girl.....(certainly at this age we call it persistent, right? or stubborn? but not that other word....not yet....not for a while...I hope)

that partially toothless-smile gets me every time

Randall Museum & Alamo Square

I kept hearing about this museum from all the other moms, so I finally remembered to take Ava this past week. I am glad we did. It's this real neat nature/science museum with a petting zoo type set up. She loved it. We will have to return.

she's got the bunny cornered

fascinated by the bees, she wanted to crawl up into the fixture

and well, here she accomplished crawling into the fixture......she is building a home to see if it can withstand an earthquake (they have a simulation earthquake lego board set up where they can crank up the "quake"). Quite entertaining.

then we ended the day at the slides....another park I had not visited, but absolutely love because it is surrounded by a huge dog park and Ava loves dogs....she will stop and say "Hi" to every single one.....

an exhausting day for mama, but baby slept good that night!

Surprise!

This is Baby Whatley's debut on what was once considered "Ava's Blog," but will soon be Also The Whatley's Blog...I guess. We went to get the 3rd ultrasound today to make sure it is healthy and to find out the gender. They threw out their guesses on the 2nd round, but the Doctor double checked this time and said.......

well, check it out for yourself......

....think you can figure it out????

Creepy 4D (baby is still pretty small, less than a pound, so the picture is about the best it can be, considering the size)

still shots of the hand

and feet, can you tell, yet?

......................

suspenseful, huh?

......................

Ta-Da!
Well, this ought to be fun!
Sonia, I pray I have your strength!

Expected Date of Arrival: September 16, 2009!

Happy Easter Weekend!

Okay, I know it's a lot of pictures, but it was Easter and her first real Easter Egg Hunt. The Mother's Group had a huge party set up at the Zoo and sectioned off the hunt by age. There are only before and after pictures because it was just so crowded and ultimately was uneventful, since Ava would find an egg, put it in her basket, and then take it back out of the basket. Anyhow, she still ha a good time. Then the pictures at the end are with her sickly sister Lauren right before the Annual Big Wheel Easter Race. Which you can see video of here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrKvrSjZTdo

A FUN weekend with Auntie and Uncle!

We had visitors this weekend. Uncle Vuong and Auntie Lori flew in for a conference and was able to squeeze in some time with us. Ava was so enamoured with this new found attention that she cried when we dropped them off at the airport.....very sweet.

It's always better to start off with a nap....

Then she made some friends at Ghirardelli Square

Kids are so funny

Auntie Lori has learned the art of distraction, Ava apparently wanted to walk off passed the guard rails and into the forest.

Then we went for a hike, where Uncle Vuong graciously offered to give the backpack a try (on the way back down the hill), but as you can see Ava liked it.

Then we ended the weekend with a sunset at the beach -- we lucked out the weather was simply perfect

Ava found her favorite thing in the world -- doggies....

...well that is until she found the sand....

obviously blissfully happy

She loved the sand so much that day, she screamed and cried so loud when we picked her up to go, that I am sure people thought we were abusing her or something.

Thank you for the visit! Can't wait for the next time....

Ava sliding solo

Meet Ava's new cousin, Nathan!

After 20 hours of labor, beginning April 1st at 6am and ending with a c section at 3am on April 2nd, we finally get to see Nathan Chan! He weighs in at a whopping 7lbs 1oz! CONGRATULATIONS GUYS!

proud parents

Look at all that hair!

proud grandparents

proud auntie

Mommy's just waking up from her drug induced sleep, I completely emphathize.

Ava's new favorite food....

We are terrible parents.
But it not actually the onion ring she enjoys she really just likes using it to dip in that bowl of ketchup. For some reason, she loves ketchup. That's a vegetable, right?? Who can resist that face? Not Daddy....